“STAGE NINJA” AWARD

JAFF Announces “Stage Ninja”

Annual Baltic Cosplay Award

JAFF
– The Japanese Animation Film Festival is establishing a new award
for best Baltic cosplayers and stage workers. The “Stage Ninja”
award will recognize outstanding performances at any cosplay
competition in the Baltic States over the previous year. The winners
will be announced annually at the J-Zone convention – a weekend-long
celebration of Japanese pop culture held at Tallinn’s Kultuurikatel
during the Film Festival.

The
“Stage Ninja” award will be given out in three categories: Best
performance by a cosplayer from the Baltic States, best technical
achievement in cosplay at a Baltic convention, and best stage worker
at a cosplay competition (the original Stage Ninjas).

The
nominees and winners will be selected by an independent panel of
experts, drawn from among top cosplayers and organizers of
cosplay-focused conventions in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Any
on-stage performance at a Baltic convention during the year is
eligible for the award. Nominees will be invited to the J-Zone
convention in Tallinn (part of the Japanese Animation Film Festival
that takes place every Spring ), where winners will be announced at a
formal ceremony.

The
“Stage Ninja” award is a brand-new type of cosplay award,
patterned on international film awards (Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA,
etc.). Unlike existing awards, it does not require nominees to
perform at any specific convention – rather, it is based on an
overview of everything that has happened in the Baltic cosplay
community over the previous year. In addition, it recognizes not just
cosplayers, but also the convention staff (most of them volunteers)
who enable this vibrant, welcoming and supportive community to exist.

Cosplay
is a form of grassroots theatrical performance that originated in
Japan. The name, an abbreviation of “costume play”, refers to the
performers’ self-made costumes – designed to transform the wearer
into a character from a Japanese comic (manga) or animation (anime).
Today, cosplay has expanded to include a variety of media sources –
video games, Western movies, TV shows, etc. Cosplayers are judged
both on the craftsmanship of their costumes, and on their on-stage
performances. In the Baltics, cosplay has been a popular hobby for
over a decade, with local cosplayers placing highly in international
competitions. Baltic cosplay contests also serve as qualifying events
for the European and Nordic Cosplay Championships, and the World
Cosplay Summit in Japan.

The
presentation of the new award will be held at J-Zone², the latest
iteration of JAFF’s fan-centered celebration of youth sub-culture
that will take place at Tallinn’s Kultuurikatel on June 13th-14th,
2020. The first winners will be announced in Spring of 2021, during
the 15th edition of JAFF.

New
dates for the 14th edition of JAFF are 4.-14.06.2020. We hope that
the situation with
Covid-19 will be successfully resolved by
then. The festival management is keeping its finger on the pulse of
the pandemic situation.
Stay safe, please!